US - Western Fire Season On Track For Worst In 50 Years - 8.7 M Acres Burn

[hatrack]

HELENA, Mont. — There's no sign of a letup to the 2006 wildfire season — almost certain to claim more acres than any season in a half-century — and firefighters are stretched so thin that help has been flown in from New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Nearly 8.7 million acres already have burned, and an unusual string of late-season major fires still are charring land in Nevada, Idaho, Washington and Montana, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise reports. The center coordinates federal, state and local firefighting efforts.

"We're on track to set a record in terms of the last 30 to 50 years," said Rick Ochoa, the center's fire weather program manager. "Our biggest season was last year (8.7 million acres) and I think we're going to surpass that in the next few days."

The center imported 92 firefighters last month from Australia and New Zealand, and 100 more from Canada to fight fires in Washington state. Also, about 500 active-duty soldiers were deployed in Washington.

Supervisors tell of making frantic deals for manpower and equipment such as helicopters and bulldozers. "I was borrowing smoke jumpers, hand crews, a blasting crew," Wally Bennett of the U.S. Forest Service said about his efforts to manage a fire in Washington's North Cascades National Park in August.

EDIT

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2006-09-10-wildfires-season_x.htm

[rrasile]

1. Fire

Whatever happened to that bill that Clinton signed allowing for the removal of dead trees and brush. I remembered Bush pulling it back but I heard that he put it into effect.
Is it working or is it a waste of time.